THE SCENE: The Capitol, Harrisburg, PA
THE PLAYERS: Our state senators and representatives
THE TIME: 10:35 P.M.
On Thursday, July 7, beginning at 10:35 p.m., while most of us were asleep, our elected representatives took Senate Bill 106 out of storage. This bill, already an omnibus constitutional amendment, had been sitting around since December 2021. They added an amendment about a deeply controversial policy issue, namely, abortion, and passed it in the full Senate the next morning!
SB 106 started in January 2021 as a bill that said candidates running for governor should themselves choose their lieutenant governor, rather than having this be an elected position. So far, reasonable. There was a rationale for this position.
But then, in December 2021, three new constitutional amendments were added to the bill that (1) required a government-issued voter ID at every election, (2) expanded the General Assembly’s power to reject regulations and (3) gave the Legislature oversight of all election audits.
Since the bill was changed, it had to go back to the Senate. And there it sat, from December 2021 to July 2022. No hearings, no expert testimony.
There it sat, until July 7, the night before the Legislature recessed until September! On that night, late in the evening, the legislative leaders manipulated procedural rules to ram this bill through. Moreover, several other amendments proposed by the minority party, including a ban on assault weapons, strongly supported by citizens in both parties, were blocked by the majority party. No bi-partisanship.
Here is the Short Title of SB 106: “A Joint Resolution proposing separate and distinct amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, providing that there is no constituent right to taxpayer-funded abortion or other right relating to abortion; further providing for action on concurrent orders and resolutions, for Lieutenant Governor and for qualifications of electors; and providing the election audits.”
This raises multiple questions about Pennsylvania’s legislative process that “we, the people” should be asking .…and taking action about.
These questions include:
(1) Why ram through a bill late at night just before recessing until September?
(2) Why ram through a bill including a clearly controversial issue (abortion) without public notice or input?
(3) Why combine dramatically different issues into one omnibus bill? Why not address independent issues independently?
(4) Why write a bill in a language so vague and confusing that neither citizens nor the media can figure out what it means?
In a recent piece from the League of Women Voters in the Bucks County Herald, we told you about the movement called Fis Harrisburg, a campaign organized by Fair Districts, PA and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. There is a clear need to change the way our state is governed. The process is broken.
We need to reform the rules, require hearings on constitutional amendments and stop legislators from ignoring their colleagues and the public. For this to happen, there is a clear need for “we, the people”, to join the many individuals and organizations already working together to effect needed change in Harrisburg.
To get started, go to fixharrisburg.com as well as fairdistrictspa.com. Both of these web sites provide detailed information on a variety of actions you can take to help.
Democracy is not a spectator sport. Our democracy is currently at risk. “We, the people” need to pay attention, step up, and take action. We need to educate ourselves regarding where the various candidates stand on the issues of importance to us. Then we need to vote. All of us.
We need to vote for the candidates who support what is important to us and vote against the candidates who do not support what is important to us as well as the candidates who are not willing to clearly indicate where they stand. Even if it means voting outside of our political party. Starting with the upcoming Nov. 22 election.
We fervently hope you will join us in our efforts to defend our democracy.
For information about the League of Women Voters, go to lwvbucks.org.
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